Any Changes To KC-X Contract Will Require "High Level" Approval

5 Apr 2011

In an effort to keep the $30 billion KC-X contract on track to deliver airplanes by the middle of the decade, any changes to the KC-X contract will have to be approved at the highest levels of the service and Pentagon leadership, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said today.

The service secretary told reporters today that the has a draft memo sitting on his desk, "the focus of which is to not allow changes to the tanker contract without high level review."

Donley was speaking in response to a question about the potential for requirements creep on the new tanker during a breakfast with reporters in Washington.

The secretary went on to point out that both the Air Force and KC-46-maker Boeing are not likely to desire any major changes, considering that the deal for the new jet is a fixed price contract. He noted that the service and Pentagon leadership have not yet figured out just how high up in DoD bureaucracy "high level" approval will be.